Weed Identification

Australia > > Bulbil Watsonia

Bulbil Watsonia

Watsonia meriana var. bulbillifera

Alternative Name(s): Wild Watsonia.

Family: Iridaceae.

Form: Herb

Origin: Recently evolved on disturbed land near Cape Town, South Africa.

Flowers/Seedhead: Flowers: Tubular, orange to dark red, 5–8 cm long, tube approximately twice as long as lobes. Flowers spring and early summer.

Description: Erect perennial herb to 2 m high. Corm covered with fibrous tunic. Leaves basal, swordshaped, tough and fibrous, to about 80 cm long and 5 cm wide. Foliage dries off in late summer.

Distinguishing features: Distinguished by clusters of egg-shaped bulbils (small deciduous bulbs on the stem) at lower nodes of flower stem, replacing the flowers.

Dispersal: Spreads by corms and bulbils moved by earth moving equipment and water.

Confused With: Other Watsonia species and varieties (notably the closely related Watsonia meriana var. meriana) and also cornflag Chasmanthe floribunda. All of these never produce bulbils on the stems, but regularly produce capsules and seed.


Curved tubular orange flowers,
Bunbury, WA, October

Notes: Once widely, but now rarely, planted as an ornamental. Major environmental weed of disturbed bushland and roadsides, particularly near water. Serious weed in south western Western Australia, southern South Australia, southern Victoria and coastal New South Wales.

References:

    Noxious Weeds of Australia. W. Parsons and E. Cuthbertson, 1992, pages 79–91. Western Weeds. B. Hussey et al., 1997, page 36–37.

Web References: Search Australian web sites for further information on this weed.

Corm with outer fibrous layers & bulbils
on flower stem
Large clump, Bunbury, WA, October

This weed has been included in the WEEDeck field guide as card H23

More information about WEEDeck is available from Sainty & Associates Pty. Ltd.

 

Australia > > Bulbil Watsonia

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